In March, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an experimental test to check blood donations for the Zika virus.
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The expanded testing of the United States blood supply “will be in effect until the risk of transfusion transmission of Zika virus is reduced”, said the FDA.
Marks said that Puerto Rico has already been testing for Zika in its blood donations, as had Florida, the only mainland state to report cases of infection from the bites of local mosquitoes.
“As more is learned about the incidence and duration of seminal shedding of Zika virus in infected men, recommendations to prevent sexual transmission of Zika virus will be updated if needed”, the CDC researchers said.
There have been almost 2,500 cases of Zika in the US linked to travel to outbreak areas.
No one appears to have caught Zika at the Olympics, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
The department reported no new non-travel related cases.
In 11 states near areas with local transmission or high rates of travel-related infections, the guidelines must be implemented within four weeks.
In March, the FDA granted Roche approval for a clinical trial testing its Zika blood screening test in Puerto Rico, where local blood donations had been halted and blood had to be imported from the continental United States.
Dr. James AuBuchon, president and chief executive of Bloodworks Northwest, said his agency would be forced to spend $2.5 million on the tests in the coming year – in a region where the mosquitoes that spread Zika haven’t been found.
Things are much worse in the USA territory of Puerto Rico, where federal health officials have declared a public health emergency because Zika is spreading so rapidly among residents there.
Zika can spread through infected Aedes species mosquitoes, sexual contact, blood transfusions, laboratory exposure, or from a mother to her fetus. Parts of Florida have also experienced local Zika transmission. The virus is particularly risky to pregnant women and future mothers as it may cause microcephaly, a neurological birth defect that can cause a newborn’s head and brain to turn out smaller than normal, among other developmental issues.
Indeed, one unit of donated blood in Florida was recently found to contain Zika virus and was intercepted, Marks told reporters on a conference call.
An executive for America’s Blood Centers, which has more than 600 locations in the USA and Canada, warned that the amount of work needed to comply with the FDA’s timeline is “titanic”.
Hologic said in an emailed statement that the company has been ramping up for months and is confident it can meet the added demand from the FDA’s guidance.
Medic already tests for a number of other viruses, including HIV, hepatitis, Chagas and West Nile.
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“Although the state of Florida, with CDC’s assistance, has mounted and continues to mount an aggressive response, the mosquitos are persistent and we won’t know for at least another couple of weeks if these aggressive control measures have worked”, Frieden said Friday.
